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The Johnson family's discoveries regarding classical education
May. 7, 2007
May Update
I'm not sure much has changed since my last update. But time keeps marching on. Youngest Son and I are working with my Beloved at least 2 or 3 days a week. I have been taking over invoicing, answering a few emails, packing, cutting metal with a band saw (sometimes), while Youngest Son has been learning the art of annodizing and dying aluminum.
Our math was slipping, but I think we are making upward progress again. He is beginning to enjoy the CD: Quarter Mile Math. If anyone is interested, you can get a free sample CD on their website.
We are currently reading a G.A. Henty book, The Young Carthaginian, which is, of course, proving most interesting. Youngest Son has read a little in a recently acquired book about Hannibal's march through the Alps, and can occasionally insert a comment about what is about to happen. That is neat!
Formal science study is minimal. We did just purchase Signs and Seasons, the new book on Classical Astronomy, and we are beginning to make a little headway into that. What an awesome book. So far, I am very pleased and impressed with the quality of the information and the book itself.
We are taking each day as the Lord sends it, and we trust Him for the results.
I will continue to post as I am able, in the midst of our busy-ness. Bye for now.
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Jan. 24, 2007
Daily Life
Is anyone else's life as crazy as mine seems to be?? I won't bore you with all the details. Suffice it to say the my mother-in-love was in the hospital twice, and then left for Florida to visit her daughter. Now she is thinking of finding her own place in our town. I hope that works out, although it would place more demands on me. Meanwhile, youngest son has now joined Boy Scouts, and so has numerous outings to fit in. It seems like a very nice group of boys and caring adults. They will be going on a winter camp/sled competition this coming weekend.
Dearest daughter has travelled to the Russian-speaking world for 2 1/2 weeks to participate in spreading the Word of God to that part of the world. I expect to see her in less than a week.
My health has been fluctuating, and I am currently on a low GL diet (The Holford Low GL Diet) in an effort to regulate my blood sugar and my weight.
Also, the love of my life has been working harder than ever (too much, really) to try to make his business more profitable. He needs me to work by his side.
And what about homeschool??!!?? Yes, that is ... struggling a bit. We were doing well for a few months there, until perhaps Thanksgiving or a week or 2 thereafter. Since then we have taken a trip to southern California for a Bible conference and to visit friends. Then we were busy getting dearest daughter ready for her trip, etc., etc. Perhaps you know how it goes.
I firmly believe that homeschool is placed in the midst of our daily family life for a reason and that there is much to be learned that cannot be found in any book. At the same time I'm convinced that our academic subjects are very important and must be given a high priority. It's just that when it comes to making these 2 sides work together, well ... I'm still working out the details.
In any case, I think that we are beginning to pick up many of the pieces, and will be putting things together more over the next couple of weeks. As usual, writing about it seems to help me sort out where we've been, where we are now, and to find direction for whatever is next. |
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Sep. 25, 2006
Geography Lesson / Ride for Cancer
I just have to mention this young man, who happens to be my cousin's son. He is riding a bicycle across the U.S. in an effort to raise money for cancer research. As of this writing, he is halfway to his goal of $25,000. Please help him spread the word.
Andrew Bascue lost his grandmother to pancreatic cancer in April of this year. She was my dear Aunt Ruth. Perhaps a year before that Andrew's good friend also lost his battle to cancer. And he knows others who are fighting their own battles right now. He has had an overwhelming feeling of wanting to do something meaningful, something difficult, to help in this fight. So this is his solution.
He began his ride on September 8, and has been keeping a blog to recap his experiences, which have been many and varied. While he has a general itinerary, he has not planned just where he will sleep each night, or exactly when he will be where. It sounds like an incredible adventure.
Here's where the geography lesson can come in. We have been following his route on a map, trying to predict where he will go next, and learning a bit of geography in the process. He is either at the eastern edge of Idaho, or has just crossed into Wyoming. His blog is called lifespoke, and I will post that link on my page. I appreciate your interest in this worthy cause.
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Sep. 25, 2006
Greetings, fellow educators.
I guess I'd forgotton what a whirlwind September can be. We are still finishing up summer and fall matters, while trying to focus more on our educational goals. The weekend before this, my mother moved, which took up much of our time, and this last weekend was filled with preparations for special church-related meals and meetings. And now I am fighting a cold, which my youngest had and is nearly over.
Well, we have been going through worksheets on Ancient Civilizations, to give us something of an overview concerning the civilizations which passed through the Fertile Crescent in ancient times. I expect to be picking up further review using Mystery of History in the coming few weeks. We have also read some books as an introduction to Ancient Greece, where I hope to eventually focus our efforts.
In addition, we are reading through selections from a quarterly magazine, called Home Educator's Tutor, which has a character trait, with related verses in several languages (Latin, Greek, Spanish, French) for us to practice. There are readings based on Plutarch's Lives, readings from Charlotte Mason, and short biographies about one artist and one musician in each issue. I will post a link for the publisher of this resource, in case anyone is interested in checking them out. (No, I'm not an affiliate. I just like using this magazine.) 
For math, at the moment we are trying to get some kind of fun fact most days. One resource for this is a free web page, which I will also put up a link for on my site, Math Fun Facts. These can help get the mental gears moving in different directions, and add some interest to what otherwise might seem a boring subject. I also found a book from more than 10 years ago called, The Joy of Mathematics, with more interesting, short facts and activities. He is starting to work through Key to Algebra, which introduces the basic concepts in a simple workbook format. We will add more kinds of resources as we move through our days.
This morning we made a simple Mobius Strip from a slip of paper. Simply give it a 1/2 twist and glue or tape the ends together. Then we took a pencil and drew a line all around the strip. It is a little surprising. Next we took 2 strips, each colored with a different color, held and twisted them together, and taped the ends together. This ended up creating a simple puzzle which we plan to share with friends when we visit them this evening. This is kinda fun. 
Youngest Son mentioned to me today that he appreciates the way we began our school year this year. He likes being able to gradually adjust to a different routine and workload. So I guess it has been for the best that I did not have everything together at the beginning of the year. All things are working out for the best.
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Sep. 10, 2006
Ready or Not
We
begin in some sense this week, but not yet a full course of
study. We will be working on establishing a schedule and
implementing a chore system. We should pick up our Bible study
and do some history and math review which may take a few weeks.
We are still getting settled into our home, and we have some elder-care
needs with both my mom and my mil. So we will do our best, and
I'll try to check back in here before too long.
Happy learning.
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Jul. 24, 2006
My Summer So Far ...
... in a word, BUSY! Does that come a surprise to any of you?
We have various church activities, summer camps, etc., that tend to take up large blocks of our summer time. And Youngest Son has his church friends to get together with at various times. We were late getting a garden in, so I've been trying to play catch up. And so it goes. I can scarcely believe that July is rapidly drawing to a close already. It has certainly been HOT enough to prove that point to me. This is the one time of year when I regret not have air conditioning in the house. Most of what gets accomplished around here these days has to be done before noon.
It's time to start bringing my thoughts and plans for the upcoming school year into sharper focus, locate our required school books, consider purchasing a few more, begin some dialog with Youngest Son about what we need to learn and how will we go about it. One thing I have (finally) begun to realize is that it's pretty important to get the student himself involved with the planning stages. He may have some really great ideas, the program will fit him more personally, and, most importantly, he will feel personally connected to what we are studying, and therefore more interested in it.
But these things will not begin this week, and possibly not the following week, at least not in earnest. This week we are preparing to go away to a Bible camp, of sorts, with Youngest Son, and many others. My Beloved and I will be among those serving with these treasured young people. We leave tomorrow afternoon, and expect to be back on the afternoon/evening of July 30, the Lord's Day.
So I have various projects to take care of today and tomorrow, including laundry, buying a few clothes for Youngest Son (they do have a dress code, fairly lenient, but we need to buy a few more items), clean out the refrigerator, for Daughter and Gramma (my MIL), who will stay behind to care for the house, the animals, and, hopefully, the garden.
So, I will close for now, and post more after my projected return. I have not forgotten the number riddles I posted in May, and will, I suppose, be forced to answer them soon. But not this week ....
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May. 9, 2006
The Four Fours
Well,
as no one has ventured a solution to my previous riddle yet, I'll leave
it up a little longer, and present you with another number riddle, also
from The Man Who Counted.
Using four fours, it is possible to get any number whatsoever. For example, to get the number zero, simply write: 44 - 44
The easiest way to get the number one?
44
44
Can you find a way to come up with each of the numbers from 2 through 10?
My son and I have had a lot of fun with these. He thinks he
doesn't like math, but he has found these stories with their riddles
very interesting. We will often stop in the middle of the story
to try and figure out the problems posed.
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May. 3, 2006
A Number Riddle
This is from the book, The Man Who Counted
It seems the story teller is traveling with this "Counting Man" who is
astounding at anything related to numbers and calculations. They
are both riding on one camel when they come upon three quarreling
men. The three men explain that they are brothers, and that their
father has left them 35 camels, to be divided as follows:
The eldest brother is to receive one half of the camels; the middle
brother is to receive one third; and the youngest is to receive one
ninth. The three of them cannot agree as to how to equally divide
the camels. 
How do you think "The Man Who Counted" resolved this dilemma?
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Apr. 28, 2006
In loving memory of my Aunt Ruth
I
apologize for my long absence from the blogging community. But my
dear Aunt Ruth finally lost her battle with cancer of the pancreas, and
I have had little time--or heart--to blog here.
This lady was incredible. She lived life to the fullest, in spite
of numerous health issues over the years. When I was just a few
weeks old, my family moved in across the street from Aunt Ruth and
Uncle Ray, and my mom had to go to work full time. So Aunt Ruth
took all four of us kids in, especially my older brother and I.
The older girls were in school at that point. She is practically
a second mom to me. This was in addition to her own 5 children
that she was already raising. Her youngest is the same age as my
oldest sister. But she loved us all.
Aunt Ruth loved to sew, and she made many dresses and nightgowns, etc.,
for me over the years. She also liked to quilt, knit, and
crochet, and I have many items made by her loving hands. Through
her example, I also now crochet, and I know how to sew and knit,
although I don't find the time to do any of those very much. She
would sit in front of the TV most evenings with her hands busy, and
when we went for any length of drive, she would bring out some project
or other to work on. Visiting other's homes, it was also not
uncommon for to pull out some knitting or some other work.
Well, her kids grew up, and my family moved away, and Aunt Ruth was
determined not be an "empty-nester" who sat around watching soap-operas
all day. So she went back to school and took up nursing, which
she did for 3 or 4 decades, until she retired. They also managed
to get some traveling in, both within the states and overseas.
They walked up mountains, saw sights, etc. For several years they
went south for the winters, driving their motorhome, to Arizona, I
think. That came to an end sometime after Uncle Ray suffered a
mild stroke, which affected his ability to drive.
But I have neglected to mention her flower gardens. She always
had plants and flowers along the curbs and the outside walls of the
house, which she spent hours on every week. Those beds have
widened over the years, and the front yard saw raised beds added as
well. It was not uncommon for her to spend 40 hours a week
working in the flower beds. As she went through hip replacement
surgeries, struggled with asthma, etc., she still managed to get out to
the flowers pretty regularly, to water, weed, and deadhead--and to
enjoy the fresh air and the beauty surrounding her. Sometimes she
would use her wheelchair like a walker to get out to the garden, then
use it to help lower herself to the ground, and lie on the ground to
pull weeds, etc. She loved her flower garden!
Then, more than a year ago, Aunt Ruth was diagnosed with pancreatic
cancer. But she continued to enjoy life. There was a big
birthday gathering for Uncle Ray's 90th birthday, and many people
showed up, knowing that Aunt Ruth's days were drawing to a close.
That was last June. They bought season tickets to the opera, as
they have done every year; she celebrated her 82nd birthday in October;
and a few weeks later they celebrated their 60th wedding
anniversary. Her diary/schedule has a heartbreaking post on April
14 of this year: Doctor has given me 1-3 weeks to live.
I came for a visit on April 19, and found her resting comfortably,
conversing normally, reading through mail, making sure someone chopped
carrots to put in the pot on the stove, etc. In short, carrying
on as usual. We both agreed that surely she had more time than
the doctor had given her. I called on Friday, the 21st, and Aunt
Ruth answered the phone. She said it would not be a good day to
come for a visit, as hospice people were there, going to shampoo her
hair, etc., and she was pretty tired. My sister called me the
following day, Saturday the 22nd, to say that I needed to come very
soon, that day if possible, if I wanted to see Aunt Ruth again.
My 18 yo daughter and I came and spent the late afternoon and early
evening there, with the family. (My husband and son were out of
town for the weekend.) At this time we could see that Aunt Ruth
was clearly going downhill quickly. It was evident that her time
was indeed short. Still, she recognized my daughter and was able
to converse with her a bit, still interested in how she was
doing. By the time we left, Aunt Ruth had eaten just a few bites
of soup, and was needing more pain meds. Her daughter, also a
nurse, stayed near her through the night, and they conversed several
times. Aunt Ruth became unresponsive around 5am, and slipped
peacefully away shortly before 10am., on Sunday, April 23, 2006.
I was able to arrive at the house before the people from the funeral
home came, and so saw her body. I had the deep realization that
Aunt Ruth was now free of pain, free from all the many struggles
against her "body of humiliation," and was now at rest, awaiting the
promised resurrection from the dead. I stood with her family as
that body was taken away to the funeral home, leaving, for the last
time, the house that had been her home for 57 years. Then I
sought solace in--where else?--the flower gardens. By the time I
had made my way along them, my heart was somewhat comforted.
Uncle Ray had gone to church with his son before the body was taken
away. I hope it was easier on him that way, but I cannot conceive
what he must be feeling now.
Now, ... we are trying to pick up the pieces, to see that Uncle
Ray is cared for, as well as the house and the flowers. They have
a grandson who has taken a liking to the gardens, and will do his best
to keep them up, though I don't know how much time he will be able to
put into them. The "Celebration of Life" will be held
tomorrow.
I hope my son will be able to get out his baseball game tomorrow.
If not, he and his dad will need to come late to the memorial
time. I do not plan to be late, no matter what, and my son is
fine with that. One of the coaches is aware of the situation, and
will release him from the game if possible (if they have enough
players).
I hope to be able to resume a more consistant schedule of blogging next
week. We will have to wait and see how our time goes. If
you have read all of this, I thank you. I needed to put this all
into writing somewhere. Thank you for your understanding.
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Apr. 13, 2006
Arrectis Auribus
Which means, loosely translated,
On the alert.
Literaly, "with ears pricked up." This phrase could be useful on city streets and elsewhere.
(Pronunciation guide: ah-REH-ktees OW-rih-buus)
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hic et nunc
which means,
here and now
A person who demands immediate action, such as repayment of a debt, would say he wants it hic et nunc.
(Pronunciation guide: heek et nuunk)
These are our Latin phrases for this week. Taken from
Amo, Amas, Amat and More ..., by Eugene Ehrlich
This has proven to be a helpful little book, with phrases we can manage.
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Apr. 13, 2006
New working schedule, and PE possibilities
Life
has continued on at a busy pace, and I apologize for my long absence
hereabouts. We lost the first baseball game of the season, and
have had several more practices since then. The second game got
rained out. His next game is scheduled for this coming Monday.
I must confess that since our move, our homeschooling has been
extremely "informal," to put it mildly. One could even call it
"relaxed." I finally sat down with my 12 yo son and we worked out
a schedule that we both felt we could live with. (That was
Monday.)
Now, as a veteran homeschooling mom, I knew going in
that (at least in our household) this plan would be tested from day 1,
and things will continue to get in the way over the long haul.
But I also know that on any given day we will accomplish more with a
plan than without it. And so it has been over these last few
days. Now we may need to work out a bold new plan (grin), since
it is looking like we will have a way to add in some PE on several
mornings each week. We are looking into the city's park and
recreation brochure, which offers some facilities with swimming pools
and fitness centers. For a monthly or seasonal family pass, we
can get unlimited use of these facilities. We are seriously
considering this. My daugher is really missing the daily swimming
she did before we moved, and this would, I think, help her quite a bit.
And, yes, we are studying ancient Greece ... sort of! I am still
trying to locate the books that I know I have, in a box somewhere ...
but I *did* come across one book that will be of some use to us in the
meantime. My son is already familiar with many of the Greek
myths, so we reviewed a few of those in a small library book. But
I have a book by Isaac Asimov, which is non-fiction.
(gasp!) It is titled: The History of Physics,
and he manages to make it pretty interesting, at least the parts I've
read so far. There is some evolutionary stuff in it, but we
generally kind of chuckle and shake our heads at such remarks.
Anyway, we will learn about some of the Greek scientists, which is
something I have been wanting to get into more this year.
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Apr. 3, 2006
Seattle Adventures and Baseball
Busy,
busy, seems to be the life of homeschool families. At least, that
is the case with myself and many others I know. We did make it
down to Southern California and brought our piano up. Getting it
into the house is another matter. It is currently sitting in our
garage, with felt inside by the strings, and blankets outside over the
piano. 
The following weekend we drove north through Portland, then east along
the Columbia Gorge, then south to the Bend/Redmond area, where we met
with some young believers in the Lord. It was very refreshing.
Last week was spring break for my college daughter, so we took the time
to drive up to Seattle, where I have family. We ended up only
spending one full day there, but made the most of it. On that
day, my daughter and son and I drove into downtown Seattle with 2 main
objectives: the underground tour and the aquarium.
The underground tour was informative, though not quite what I
expected. We *did* get a lot of the history of early Seattle, but
it was told from a different perspecitve than many of us would think
of. We learned that the city was originally built on tidal flats,
with what were essentially cliffs rising up behind, full of trees for
logging. The first founders were, shall we say, less than
knowledgeable about founding a city. There was a fair share of
corruption, etc., in those early days, along with a serious sewage
problem. We learned that the man who invented the toilet was
named Mr. Crapper, and his inventions were commonly called
"crappers." Oh great! Just the kind of history I wanted to
teach my kids! 
When these useful items first arrived in Seattle, there was no sewage
system to connect them to, and it took a bit of time to work out all
the details.
OK, sorry. There was a great fire in 1889, which destroyed the
town but took no lives. The merchants and other property owners
rebuilt the stores, etc., but the city raised the streets around them,
to address the flooding and other problems. Eventually the
merchants had to raise the sidewalks to street level, and an
underground area was created in the process. And the history
continued from there. Overall we found it quite
interesting. And the kids remembered quite a few facts from the
tour.
From there we got (misleading) directions to the Seattle Aquarium, but
finally found our way there anyway. Along the way, we got a good
walking workout. We saw otters, seals, octopus, sharks, salmon,
eels, etc., etc., etc. That was pretty fun.
We also got to spend some time with my dad and his wife, and with my
brother and his family. I feel it was time well spent.
The reason we had to rush back after only one full day, was because my son's baseball season has begun.
We got a call on Sunday about an information meeting on Monday.
On Monday we got the practice schedule, beginning on Tuesday. We
left Wednesday for Seattle, he missed practice on Thursday, and we made
it back just in time for practice on Friday.
This week there is a practice at the batting cages tonight (Mon.), then
practices again on Tues, Thur., and Fri. If the uniforms arrive
in time, opening day ceremonies and games are due to begin on Saturday
the 8th. And I suppose we will learn of further scheduling from
there.
I have had very mixed feelings about Little League, but so far the
experience has positive for this son. He enjoys playing ball, and
we will do our best to be on hand, observing and cheering and helping
wherever needed. And praying for his teammates and coach, and for
him. I'm sure that our Lord has His hand on these young ones, and
I intend to keep bringing all my cares to Him.
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Mar. 17, 2006
Out of town for a few days
I
will be gone for the next few days, going to California to get our
piano, which friends have kept for us at their house. It will be
the middle of next week, at best, before we get back. I am hoping
to begin something on Greece then. (yeah!) What with our
move and other factors, I'm not sure what books I can still lay my
hands on, but I know I have at least a few interesting ones.
Well, we can face all of that next week. For now, it is late, and
we leave in the morning, after getting packed, etc. So I need to
get to bed.
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Mar. 13, 2006
Latin anyone?
Until
I began reading the Bluedorn's books, I saw no reason to study Latin or
other "dead" languages. Greek makes sense, since it is the
language of the New Testament (though I didn't know where to begin);
and Hebrew, perhaps, although I have the impression that it is
difficult for an English speaker to learn. (Not impossible, mind
you, but more challenging than other languages.)
But now, we have been attempting to learn bits of Latin. We started with a book titled, Amo, Amas, Amat and More,
by Eugene Ehrlich. This is full of short Latin phrases, some
commonly known. It includes pronunciation guides and brief
descriptions to impart meaning. No grammar is presented
here. But we are able to recognize certain words as used in their
various declensions, which will, hopefully, help the grammar to make a
little more sense, when we reach that point. One of our first,
and favorite, expressions is "fiat lux," which means, "Let there be light." We often say that, in either language, when we turn on a light in a dark room.
We have also begun trying to learn a few verses of Scripture in Latin,
as well as in English. We are working on Psalm 1, which we
memorized last year in English. Since I don't have pronunciation
guides, I can only hope I'm not destroying the language too badly (need
to know where to put the accent, mainly). Even so, it is proving
very interesting, as we meet up with more words that look vaguely
familiar.
We recently subscribed to The Home Educator
magazine, which has a number of useful tidbits for our use. Term
2 includes a definition of obedience, from Webster's 1828 dictionary,
which we have copied. There are also a number of verses, first in
English, then in Latin, that relate to that character trait. So I
have selected some of these to work on as well. And there is a
short list of Latin phrases, which we are happy to add to our
list. There are also stories, and many other interesting things
in this magazine.
Much of our language study has fallen by the wayside due mainly to our
major move, and trying to get settled in, then a bit of sickness and
other unpredicatable happenings. But we are attempting to pick of
the pieces, so to speak, and I am feeling a little more encouraged at
present. We are still learning the Greek alphabet, slowly, using
the Bluedorn's Alphabeterion and Huppogramon. And we will again
be picking up our reading through the history of the Old Testament,
using the Greenleaf Guide.
We are nearly finished, for now, with our study of Ancient Egypt (dare
I say, finally!). We still need to finish our timeline
comparisons, and read through, together, the reasons for reducing the
Egyptian chronology mentioned in my earlier post. Then I want a
brief summary of contributions made by Ancient Egypt to the world
(science, architecture, etc.). I hope to finish up all of this by
the end of the week, and then move on, probably to study Ancient
Greece. We'll see how that goes.
If you are still reading, I want to thank you for your patience, and I will try to shorten my posts in the future.
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Mar. 3, 2006
Exodus question, revisited
I've
gotten some new (to me) and interesting information, courtesy of the
Bluedorns of Trivium Pursuit. I just knew that they would have
had good reason for placing the Exodus in a different place compared
with Egyptian history. And their reasons are explained in this
somewhat lengthy blog post on their site. See the link I just
added.
Scholars
still seem to agree, for the most part, that the Exodus took place
around 1445 B.C. However, many are now recommending a change in
the timing of the Egyptian dynasties. The Exodus has typically
been placed at the time of the 18th dynasty. But there may be
some evidence to place it in the 12th dynasty instead. Some feel
that the more traditional Egyptian chronology should be moved by about
300 years, for various reasons, looked at from various angles.
They would place the 12th dynasty at about the same time as the
Exodus. It all makes for some very interesting reading, I think.
This
article is full of references that I will need to look into. This
will (obviously) take some time and serious study. It is the kind
of information I was hoping to get. I would definitely be
interested in further comments anyone may have on this intriguing
subject.
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Mar. 2, 2006
Museum Visit
My
sister called me up the other day and invited us to join her and her
daughter at the University's Museum of Natural History. We met
there today. It was a pretty interesting place. One area
had quite a number of fossils, which my son found very
interesting. He is thinking he may want to be a paleontologist by
and by. I learned a little about the man for whom one of my grade
schools was named (Professor Condon). He was a professor at U of
O, a geologist, and he wrote a book about paleontology. There
were also displays about the changes in climate, etc., over time in
this region, and some exhibits showed ways native Americans lived,
fished, etc. We had a nice time.
Then I took my kids over to a little park I have been wanting to get
to, and we explored that a bit. Up on a hill, there was more than
one great view of the city. Eventually we found an alternate
route back home. I feel like we learned a bit more today about
the place where we now live, and something of its past. It's been
a nice day.
And now hubby just called to offer to take me out to dinner tonight,
while the kids attend a recital that a friend of ours will be in.
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Feb. 24, 2006
Using the computer
How much time do you allow your kids to be on the computer?
It is a controversial subject, and one about which I have mixed
feelings. I know there are pluses and minuses to the use of the
computer. So I try to limit how much time my son spends, knowing
that he will get some time on it most days. But I try to supply
many other activities to keep him occupied. If he has a good
book, he usually seems to prefer reading to getting on the
computer. The problem is that he often devours a book as quickly
as possible, and then it's gone. Then what? There are other
things he can do, but I know that I will often allow him a set time
(say, 20 minutes).
I think he has a pretty good feel for what kinds of games are OK in
this house and which ones to avoid. And we have found some games
and other sites with educational content which he actually likes.
One of these is "Place the State" (see my links). In this game,
you place one state at a time on a blank outline of the U.S., like a
jigsaw puzzle, until all 50 states are in place. If you place a
state in the wrong spot, it shows you where it belongs. You
compete against yourself to improve your time and accuracy. The
more you play it, the better you learn just where each state is.
We have all taken turns on this, and compared our scores.
We have also started watching this live eagle cam. We spotted a
third egg on the nest before the website was updated to mention it (for
a number of days it still said, "We have two eagle eggs....").
Now it has a few lines about that third egg. Also, the camera
just changed its updating of the picture from once per minute to once
every 15 seconds. Kinda neat.
So, I think that in small quantities, the computer can be a useful tool
to serve our educational goals. But a useful tool can become a
very bad master, and I know we need to be on guard to make sure just
who is in charge here.
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Feb. 22, 2006
Redwall stories revisited
As
much as I like the Redwall books, I need to add a little to my earlier
statements about them. I said that they would make great read
aloud stories, but that depends on the reader. As I have made my
way through yet another tale, I realized, not for the first time, that
I personally would have a hard time reading them aloud. Why, you
ask?
Well, there is a certain amount of insulting language, although it is
not foul, especially among the "vermin." The names given to many
of the vermin are not always words pleasant to my mouth (dripnose,
fattail, dogbreath, etc.). And even among the good woodlanders,
in their light-hearted banter some serious exaggerations may be spoken,
and even outright lies, at times. It is all in fun, and is
understood for what it is, but ... maybe I'm too much. ... I
would just rather not have some of those words come through my
lips.
Another reader might have no problem with these things at all.
Certainly I can hear the many rich accents and fun conversations in my
head as I'm reading, and I enjoy the stories very much. I just
felt that I needed to present a more balanced picture of how I
personally view these stories. Happy reading.
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Feb. 20, 2006
A Goodnight Poem
I read a basic poem years ago, shared by one family. It went like this:
Goodnight. Sleep tight!
Wake up bright in the morning light
To do what's right
With all your might.
We adopted this as our own (many years ago, now), and gradually added a
little to it and put it to a tune. I used to love to sing it to
one or more of my kids at bedtime.
We added another, "goodnight" at the end. Then added "I love you."
Then began to add quite a few "very's" and the word "much."
Goodnight. Sleep tight!
Wake up bright in the morning light
To do what's right
With all your might.
Goodnight. I love you very, very, very, very. very, very, very, ... much!
You get the idea. It was great fun.
Yes, "was." My youngest is now 12, and he is rapidly outgrowing
that fun stage, and is growing, all too quickly, it seems, into that
adolescent stage which can be such a challenge to our young ones.
I am reminded to continue to pray much over him, and to help him along
the pathway as best I can.
I accidentally offered him a little different kind of goodnight poem the other night.
Close your book. Turn off your light.
I love you very much. Good night!
(grin)
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Feb. 18, 2006
God hath not promised ...
I love this hymn, and I just came across it this morning.
God hath not promised skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways all our lives through;
God hath not promised sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.
But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labor, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.
God hath not promised we shall not know
Toil and temptation, trouble and woe;
He hath not told us we shall not bear
Many a burden, many a care.
God hath not promised smooth roads and wide,
Swift, easy travel, needing no guide;
Never a mountain, rocky and steep,
Never a river, trubid and deep.
But God hath promised ...
This is such an encouragement to me. Thank You, O Lord, for promising to be all that we need. Praise Him!
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